Matta, Dials Voted Big Ten's Best
Foster, Butler also earn recognition
COLUMBUS, Ohio -
Thad Matta was named the 2006 Big Ten Coach of the Year by the league media and Ohio State senior center
Terence Dials was chosen as the 2006 Big Ten Player of the Year by both the league coaches and media, the Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday.
Dials earned a spot on the 2006 All-Big Ten First Team (media and coaches) as well.
Ohio State's
Je'Kel Foster, a senior guard from Natchez, Miss., was as second team honoree in the coaches' balloting while Foster and sophomore guard
Jamar Butler were named to the third team by the conference media. Butler was an honorable mention selection by the league coaches.
Big Ten coaches placed Foster on the league's 2006 All-Defensive Team. He also was tabbed a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honoree.
Dials, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, becomes Ohio State's fifth Big Ten player of the year and the first since guard Scoonie Penn claimed the honor in 1999. Dennis Hopson was selected in 1987 while Jim Jackson won the award in both 1991 and '92. Hopson and Jackson were both forwards.
Ohio State (23-4) last had a student-athlete earn first team All-Big Ten honors in 2002 when Brian Brown made the squad. The last Ohio State center to make the league's first team was Ken Johnson in 2001.
Buckeye coaches have earned the media nod as the league's top coach five times previously with Eldon Miller (1983), Randy Ayers (1991, 1992) and Jim O'Brien (1999, 2001) all earning the award.
Dials led the Buckeyes in scoring and rebounding with 15.3 points and 8.0 rebounds a game. He finished the regular season with enough points to rank No. 15 in Ohio State history with 1,492. He also is No. 6 in career rebounding with 834. His .564 career field goal shooting percentage rates No. 3 all-time in OSU history.
Foster was Ohio State's second-leading scorer with 13.3 points a game while leading the team with 66 steals, which is tied for the fourth most in Ohio State history for a single season.
His senior season 3-point shooting percentage of .447 to date is the best for a single season at OSU. His career shooting percentage from long range of .438 is second best all time at Ohio State.
Butler, a native of Lima, Ohio, has been among the Top 2 point guards all season in assist-to-turnover ratio. His scoring also has improved significantly to 10 points a game, all while drawing the opponent's top offensive threat on defense.
Matta directed the Buckeyes to the outright 2006 Big Ten regular season title with a 12-4 league record. He also reached the 20-win plateau, which he has done in each of his six seasons as a head coach. Only Mark Few of Gonzaga (7) has accomplished that feat among active Division I coaches.
Matta has now won coach-of-the-year honors in three NCAA Division I conferences. He was the Midwestern Collegiate Conference coach of the year in 2001 as a rookie coach at Butler, his alma mater, and the Atlantic 10 Coach of the year in 2002 at Xavier. Matta has directed four teams in six seasons to regular-season championships. He also has three conference tournament titles to his credit. He won the MCC title in 2001 and the Atlantic 10 postseason championship in 2002 and 2004.
Ohio State, the No. 1 seed at the 2006 Big Ten Tournament this week in Indianapolis, will take on either No. 8 Penn State or No. 9 Northwestern at noon Friday. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
As selected by Big Ten coaches
(players names in ALL CAPS have 2006-07 eligibility)
FIRST TEAM
James Augustine, Illinois
Dee Brown, Illinois
Greg Brunner, Iowa
Terence Dials, Ohio State
ALANDO TUCKER, Wisconsin
SECOND TEAM
SHANNON BROWN, Michigan St.
Paul Davis, Michigan State
Je'Kel Foster, Ohio State
Daniel Horton, Michigan
Vedran Vukusic, Northwestern
THIRD TEAM
Maurice Ager, Michigan State
GEARY CLAXTON, Penn State#
Vincent Grier, Minnesota#
ADAM HALUSKA, Iowa#
Jeff Horner, Iowa
Marco Killingsworth, Indiana
HONORABLE MENTION
JAMAR BUTLER, Ohio State
KAMMRON TAYLOR, Wisconsin
ROBERT VADEN, Indiana
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
JAMELLE CORNLEY, Penn State
JOE KRABBENHOFT, Wisconsin
CHRIS LUTZ, Purdue
CRAIG MOORE, Northwestern
JAMAR SMITH, Illinois
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
SHANNON BROWN, Michigan St.
Je'Kel Foster, Ohio State
Mohamed Hachad, Northwestern
Erek Hansen, Iowa
BRIAN RANDLE, Illinois
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Terence Dials, Ohio State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Erek Hansen, Iowa
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
JAMELLE CORNLEY, Penn State
SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR:
Doug Thomas, Iowa
# tie
As selected by Big Ten media
(players names in ALL CAPS have 2006-07 eligibility)
FIRST TEAM
Dee Brown, Illinois
Greg Brunner, Iowa
Terence Dials, Ohio State
Daniel Horton, Michigan
ALANDO TUCKER, Wisconsin
SECOND TEAM
Maurice Ager, Michigan State
James Augustine, Illinois
SHANNON BROWN, Michigan St.
Paul Davis, Michigan State
Marco Killingsworth, Indiana
THIRD TEAM
JAMAR BUTLER, Ohio State
GEARY CLAXTON, Penn State
Je'Kel Foster, Ohio State
Jeff Horner, Iowa
Vedran Vukusic, Northwestern
HONORABLE MENTION
Vincent Grier, Minnesota
ADAM HALUSKA, Iowa
Matt Kiefer, Purdue
KAMMRON TAYLOR, Wisconsin
ROBERT VADEN, Indiana
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Terence Dials, Ohio State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
JAMELLE CORNLEY, Penn State
COACH OF THE YEAR:
Thad Matta, Ohio State
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Dee Brown, Illinois; Marshall Strickland, Indiana; Adam Haluska, Iowa; Graham Brown, Michigan; Maurice Ager, Michigan State; Adam Boone, Minnesota; Michael Jenkins, Northwestern; Je'Kel Foster, Ohio State; Mike Walker, Penn State; Bryant Dillon, Purdue
